ERICA. 
Greenhouse and Stave Plants. 
163 
dry hot weather the stock should be looked 
over as to water twice aday. Keep them 
well up to the glass in order to secure stout 
well-matured growth, giving plenty of air, 
but not subjecting them to keen draughts. 
Through the autumn and winter let them 
have a light position where they can be 
kept a few degrees above freezing. During 
the dormant season let the atmosphere be 
dry, and now, as at all other times, never 
give water until the soil is so dry that 
withholding it longer would be likely to 
cause injury. Again early in spring they 
must be potted—3-inch pots will be the 
right size; this time break the peat fine 
by hand in place of sifting it, and add sand 
as before. The strongest shoots must have 
their points pinched out, with a view to 
still further induce the formation of 
branches. Treat as during the last 
summer in respect to air, water, and 
general routine, continuing to keep them 
well up.to the glass. A low light span- 
roofed pit is well suited to the require- 
ments of Heaths, especially in their early 
stages, as in such a structure they can easily 
be kept close to the light, and in hot 
weather the air is not so dry as to havea 
parching effect on young plants before they 
get into pots holding a larger body of soil. 
In summer during very hot weather it will 
be an advantage to moisten the floor of 
the pit, which will correct the over-dry 
state of the air, for although Heaths do not 
like a damp, stagnant atmosphere in autumn 
and winter, nor are they imyroved by the 
application of water overhead, it may 
under glass be drier than is good for 
them. Treat through the winter as before, 
and again give them a shift early in spring 
into pots 1 or 2 inches larger, according 
to the more or less free-growing nature of 
the variety ; use the soil now in a less 
finely broken condition than previously, 
and at each subsequent potting as the 
plants get larger, it should be used in a 
still more lumpy state. 
The advantage of potting Heaths, especi- 
ally while small, early enough before the 
external air has got hot and dry, is that 
there is less likelihood of their suffering 
through the effects of removal than if the 
operation is deferred until later on. Again 
pinch out the points of all the strong 
shoots, and in addition to this the strongest 
must be tied out horizontally close down 
to the rims of the pots. This has the 
double advantage of throwing the strength 
into the weaker growth left in an erect 
position, and of ensuring the dense bushy 
habit that is natural to Heaths generally, 
and which they would assume with- 
out assistance if growing in the open air. 
Treat through the summer and subsequent 
winter as before, and again in spring give 
more root-room. ‘The additional size of 
pots given should be regulated by the 
strength of the plants and the more or less 
vigorous habit of the variety. It is well 
to avoid the extreme of too much pot-room, 
or the opposite of too little. At this stage 
pots an inch larger for the slow growers 
will be sufficient, while the freest will 
bear a 2-inch shift. This season a few 
small sticks will be requisite to tie the 
strongest shoots to so as to keep the plants 
to the desired shape, but now, and in all 
subsequent stages, do not use more sup- 
ports than cannot be dispensed with, as 
the act of thrusting sticks into the soil has 
the inevitable effect of destroying more or 
less of the roots, and the use of more than 
is required directly tends to destroy the 
appearance which the plants should have 
either in or out of flower. This year, 
towards the close of the summer, they will 
be all the better for having the lights 
drawn off them in fine weather, by which 
means their growth will get matured—a 
condition still more necessary in after 
years as the plants acquire more size. Let 
the winter management be as previously, 
and in spring give more root-room ; young 
plants in, say, 6 or 7 inch pots will bear a 
2-inch move, more or less according to the 
free or slow growing nature of the variety. 
Do not on any account disturb the roots 
more than unavoidable; disentangling 
them from the old ball must by no means 
be attempted. Drain the pots well, using 
some of the fibrous pieces of the soil to 
cover the crocks. An old practice in the 
potting of Heaths was to elevate the balls 
so high in the pots that little room was 
left for water ; this was done with a view 
to keep the collar of the plants sufficiently 
dry, which is essential, but it can be 
effected equally well by keeping it some- 
what higher than the rest of the surface 
of the ball, leaving this sloping gradually 
from the centre to within a little distance 
of the sides of the pot; by this means the 
whole can be kept enough below the rim 
of the pot to allow proper space for water- 
ing. Three quarters of an inch is not too 
much for plants in 8 or 9 inch pots. 
Studiously avoid light potting; in all 
cases ram the new soil so as to make it as 
close as that contained in the old ball. If 
this is not done, water, when given after- 
wards, will pass down the sides through 
the new material, leaving the centre in 
which the roots exist so dry as to cause 
death or disease. 
After potting keep the house a little 
closer than usual for a few weeks, giving 
